Virtual Lessons for the ‘Real World’

By Rachel Griffiths, Dramatic Resources trainer

In Spring 2020, I dialled in to the first whole-team meeting Dramatic Resources had ever held online. Covid-19 had put the world in lockdown and we had one priority: transferring the successful in-person training we had been delivering for 15 years from a room to a screen. And quickly! 

We couldn’t have imagined that our journey into the virtual would teach us new ways of working ‘in the room’ when we finally returned. Two and a half years later, I’ve been reflecting on how we have evolved.

BACK TO BASICS

In the early months of lockdown, the DR team met regularly for a cup of restorative tea and conversation over Zoom. After all, we missed each other! Together, we shared the discoveries we were making outside of the corporate training room – the Arts were adapting, and so were we.

The evolution of the team’s theatre practices helped us along as we considered how DR’s work would enter the new virtual world. They say that necessity is the mother of invention, and so we went back to basics. We tested games once played in schools and rehearsal rooms using cameras, objects, breakout rooms and private chat messages. 

PLAY

As theatre makers, play is in our DNA. Our work has always been playful and interactive, but team workshops during lockdown encouraged us to reinvent, improvise, and start again. We dug into our experience and practice, dusting off discarded ideas and bringing them back to life in new form. Many hours were spent wearing hats, rushing around our homes finding meaningful objects, and discovering the chaos when everyone speaks at once.

When ‘Zoom fatigue’ made its way into the common vernacular, we started to play with space. There’s a classic in-person exercise in which we ask Person A to describe what is in their fridge, and Person B tells a story about them based on their habits – for example, we could suppose that Person A is highly organised when we hear about their labelled Tupperware. Online, the exercise was transformed when a colleague leant back and opened his actual fridge door so we could see his impressively well-stocked vegetable drawer! The story unexpectedly came to life.

For many months, we stuck flipchart paper to our bedroom walls and found objects in the kitchen drawer to use as metaphors. The analogue world of pens and paper offered respite in the draining world of the screen.

FLEXIBILITY

These discoveries changed the way we thought about how we can plan and deliver our sessions now that we are working in person again. The virtual sessions prompted me to loosen my grip on how a session “should” run. After all, our lockdown trainings were underpinned by uncertainty – would participants disappear halfway through an exercise because the tech failed? Would they need to open the front door to a delivery right before telling a story, or help their child with a maths problem? A robust plan has always been essential, but these days, I have greater confidence to adapt that plan according to unexpected moments. 

A few weeks ago, I found myself faced with a group of participants at a business school experiencing the post-lunch energy dip. I grabbed my colleague and spontaneously suggested we bring our two groups together for an energising game. “I know what we should do!” he responded, with a sparkle in his eye. Ten minutes later, a room full of mature business leaders were playing a raucous, competitive game: shouting, laughing, and throwing their arms in the air when they didn’t win. It was unplanned – and glorious. Lockdown has reminded us to keep playing, and to hold onto our plans with a lighter grip.

CARE

As the pandemic went on, we sensed the weight of concern and exhaustion in our participants. The novelty of working from home gave way to wondering: “How long can we continue in back-to-back meetings, sitting in the same chair for 9 or more hours each day?” I particularly remember the young executive with dark circles under his eyes, living on fast food deliveries, having not left his flat for 3 days. I also recall the woman who couldn’t participate actively in a women’s leadership programme, because she was sharing her desk with her male partner. Not everyone had a private space in which to fully participate, creating yet more strain.

We use the metaphor of the rehearsal room in our training: a safe space to experiment, try something new, and take a risk. That environment isn’t automatic – it needs to be established by whoever is leading. The unpredictability of the virtual space re-focused our attention more keenly on this need to create a safe learning environment. As trainers, we are reminded to prioritise “psychological safety” (as coined by Priya Parker, author of The Art of Gathering).

Psychological safety is essential in my work as a participatory and community theatre maker. At the start of virtual meetings with my colleagues in socially engaged work, the timetable and shape of the day were clearly outlined. Expectations were clearly explained, and moments of stillness were built in (such as time with cameras off and reminders to be sensitive to the various contexts we might be in). I began to draw on this practice of care with corporate clients, particularly in welcoming honesty about how people were feeling. Nowadays, back in the room, I try to take the time to acknowledge what is impacting on participants’ work and wellbeing, and leave more space for reflection. We are grateful for the unprecedented access into our participants’ lives that emerged in the virtual world. As we go back ‘in the room’, care has become a priority.

MOVING ON

Our clients continue to be our greatest teachers. With every workshop (both virtual and in-person), we are continuing to learn and seek out expertise. I’m using the lessons from the virtual world to become better equipped to make our work fun, accessible, and safe for everyone.

What has the world of virtual work taught you about how we interact in-person? We would love to hear your thoughts via LinkedIn or Twitter.